Sweater, Vince ($285). Copley Place, 617-236-5535. Shirt, Polo Ralph Lauren ($90). 93–95 Newbury St., 617-424-1124. Tie, stylist’s own.

Dress, Louis Vuitton ($21,006). Copley Place, 617-437-6519. Earrings, Neil Lane ($12,000). neillanejewelry.com

MCDREAMY STYLE CAROL BEGGY: Would you say your Versace modeling career helped define your personal style? And if you’re photographed wearing some other designer, do they send someone after you? PAT RICK DEMPSEY: No. It's a serious business, fashion, but it's not like that. I had a great run with Versace, and I do love wearing their clothes. How great to have suits made for you for three years. CB: In your work life, Grey's isn't exactly a Fashion Week preview. PD: Ha! The great thing about work is the wardrobe fittings—or the one wardrobe fitting. It's just scrubs all season long. Sometimes I get to wear a sweater. I think I have one button-down sweater on the show.—c.b.

The Maine native is in his sixth season of playing Dr. Derek Shepherd, a neurosurgeon nicknamed "McDreamy"—though it's used less these days on the hit hour-long ABC drama than by fans flooding blogs and websites with commentary about the episodes. Not that a moniker like that would surprise Dr. Shepherd or Dempsey, who seems to score a perennial spot on People's annual "Sexiest Men Alive" list. "Your life changes," the 44-year-old quietly replies to questions regarding his high-profile role, hinting at the upside—and perhaps the downside—of his insanely busy world.

In addition to wrapping up this season of Grey's Anatomy, Dempsey is part of the star-studded ensemble in Valentine's Day, a recently opened comedy-romance. Add his real-life hospital work—overseeing his foundation that supports The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Maine, created after his mother Amanda's successful battle with ovarian cancer—and the Irish-eyed actor is in overdrive. But even then, he's cruising: The car aficionado and racer owns Dempsey Racing, a Grand Am-sanctioned road-racing team based in Atlanta, and he recently acquired the rights to Garth Stein's best-selling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain, which he hopes to produce and star in.

Still, this father of three (he and his wife, Jillian Dempsey, have a daughter, Talula Fyfe, born in 2002, and twin sons, Darby Galen and Sullivan Patrick, born in 2007) is determined to balance his work with his personal life—even if it means sitting in rush-hour traffic like the rest of us.

CAROL BEGGY: Since this interview is for Boston readers, we have to talk weather first.
PAT RICK DEMPSEY: That's the one thing my mom always wants to know, blow by blow. [Affecting a weather-announcer voice] It's been mostly a pattern of sunny and warm here.

CB: Go ahead, rub it in. Don't forget Southern California is nothing compared to the midcoast region of Maine. Speaking of which, you seem to like coming home.
PD: I do like being in Maine. I spend a lot of time there—not as much as I'd like lately, but I've been back regularly for the foundation. This year it was during the height of leaf season. It had been raining all week and was overcast going into the day of The Dempsey Challenge ride [a 10- to 100-mile bike ride fundraiser], but the foliage was absolutely stunning. A lot of the people who came had never grown up with that kind of foliage, or had never had lobster. We served lobster at the end of the ride. You forget growing up there how great that is.

CB: Not only did you get a lot of press for raising more than $1 million, but also for being able to turn over nearly all the money you raised to the center. Are you doing something that other celebrities aren't?
PD: We're lucky because our sponsors, like Amgen, make it possible to put nearly all the money raised right back into the community. I grew up here and was born at that hospital. Lewiston and Auburn have a great need for this, as do the more rural areas. That was the great thing about returning home—seeing the goodwill from the people. My heart is always in Maine.

CB: Let's talk Grey's. Even though ABC had the good sense to put it on right after the Super Bowl, you had no idea if it would be successful?
PD: It's been a remarkable ride. You go from the starting point of "I hope I get the job. I need to pay the rent." Then it's more about hoping the pilot gets picked up. It's been six years. We had done our final episode of our first season before the pilot aired. We didn't know if we had a show. Then we come back from hiatus and we were the hot show. It was really life-changing.

CB: What are this year's changes on the show, and what's up with Dr. Shepherd?
PD: The show is really wide open this season. We're really focusing on two characters per episode. That makes it easier for everyone. Yes, there's a lot of sex and there's going to be a lot more, but there's also going to be a lot of twists and turns at the end of this season. For my character, specifically, it's about the chief, and dealing with his ambition and Meredith's relationship with him.

CB: Speaking of Meredith, what's it like working with Ellen Pompeo?
PD: Ellen's great. We actually filmed around her pregnancy. If you notice in the scenes, it's a closeup and then she's standing in front of something. I remember our screen tests. The moment she opened her mouth I knew she was from New England. Don't be fooled by her on the show—when she's not acting, she's in [the Boston accent] all the time.

CB: You may have escaped the accent, but you can't fool us: Before any teams won titles, were you a diehard Red Sox and Patriots fan?
PD: When I was growing up in New England, we had the Curse of the Bambino—not that we called it that. We just knew the heartbreak every year. And the Patriots weren't winning, either. Now all the teams are back. When the Sox won in 2004, I called everybody in Maine and they were in tears.

CB: Beyond sports, what are your memories of Boston?
PD: Going to Boston from Maine was like going to the big, big city. We'd take the bus down and go to Faneuil Hall Marketplace. One trip with my mom we saw Yul Brynner in The King and I. Years later when I was doing Brighton Beach Memoirs in Washington, he was also performing there. I told him about seeing him; he was so gracious. I never forgot that experience of seeing him in that play.

CB: Have we used up all our time? Are you still stuck in traffic?
PD: That's a good tactic, interviewing during rush hour. No, it’s free and clear. I’m cruising along right now. I could go 70. BC

Styling by Wendi & Nicole at The Wall Group
Grooming by Jillian Dempsey for Avon at The Wall Group
Produced by Jill at 3Star Productions